Popular wearable manufacturer Amazfit, who you might know for its affordable Apple Watch alternative the Amazfit Bip, has just added an intriguing new device to its portfolio.
Dubbed the Amazfit Ares, this smartwatch has just been announced in China. It only costs CNY499, which converts to roughly $70 / $60 / AU$110, and is therefore a supremely low priced sports smartwatch. Key features of the watch include a rugged design, 14 day battery life, built-in GPS and 70 sports modes.
In terms of design, the Amazfit Ares has a bulky square-shaped body made of polycarbonate materials and gives an impression of a rugged watch. Straps are, as in most sports-centric smartwatches, made of silicone. However, there are multiple versions listed on the Amazfit website including leather, rubber, and a Youth Edition Color wristband.
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The touchscreen display of the watch measures 1.28-inches and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It has a 200mAh battery that can charge up to full in two hours using the in-box charger.
There's a basic watch mode that essentially just tells the time and allows the watch to last for 90 days from a single charge. Normal usage of the smartwatch will last for around 14 days.
What features does it sport?
The Amazfit Ares runs on software from Huami, the Xiaomi-owned company that makes Amazfit devices, and is capable of recording plenty of sports activities. The interesting ones include belly dancing, zumba, street dance and square dance, as well as the standard running, cycling, swimming, mountaineering, high-intensity indoor workouts and more.
Furthermore, the Amazfit Ares has a built-in Firstbeat algorithm, which is a key highlight of the watch, that tracks VO2 Max levels, recovery time, training load, and training effect. It seems, then, the Ares is good for people looking to build up their fitness or strength.
Huami has also added a Pai Health activity indicator that monitors heart-rate data periodically to give a view of the daily activity intensity. The Amazfit Ares is 5ATM water-resistant, meaning that it can be submerged down to 50 metres for about 10 minutes.
The Amazfit Ares is currently available in China, but we'd expect it to be available in the coming months in other countries. That may include the US, UK and Australia where Amazfit has previously released its devices, but we don't yet have any specific details.
